Boiler.



C. F. MITCHELL.

BOILER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3. 1912. 1,201,489. A Patented 0011.. 17,1916. Fg! /7 winmx-immun CHARLES F. MITCHELLDF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

BOILER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.

Appli-cation filed April 3, 1912. Serial No. 688,214.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. MITCHELL, a citizen of the United States, residing in Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Boilers, of which the fol* lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in boilers. Y

In the use of wash boilers and similar vessels having an open top, and in which clothes and other articles are adapted to be boiled, as hitherto constructed, there is a constant source of annoyance and danger due to the contents boiling over and splashing upon and scalding the operator.

With the common form of wash boiler and other boiler vessels now in use, it is practically necessary to use covers to prevent the escape of steam into the rooms in which they are used, and also to prevent the boiling over of the water, and the covers must of necessity be loosely applied to prevent the creation of too great pressure within the vessel, and in actual practice, the cover or lid when in use is continually being lifted up, due to even the small increased pressure created and the impact of the boiling water thereagainst, and at these times the boiling water and steam escape and often scald the housewife or other person using the same.

The object of my invention broadly, is the elimination of these evils through the provision of a boiler for clothes and the like which will not boil over and which at the same time will have to the fullest possible extent, the efficiency and elfectiveness of the old boilers commonly in use prior to my invention.

A principal object of the invention is the provision of a wash boiler which will not boil over and which will be unobstructed internally to provide the maximum cubical content for the amount of material used in the construction of the boiler and for the size of the boiler itself.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of the boiler of the character described wherein the operation and action of the water within the boiler is as nearly the same as it is in the volder types of boilers, boilers embodying my invention being so constructed that no particular instructions need be given the washer woman or other person using them. This is extremely important for unless the boiler acts as boilershave always acted, the ordinary servant maid or hired wash woman will not be able to use them without considerable supervision.

Still another obj ect of the invention is the provision of a boiler of this kind, differing little in appearance from the older types of boilers in order that servant maids, washer women and the like may not regard it with suspicion and may be able to use them without particular thought of their novel construction.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means which will return water cooled in proper degree and which will not, however, affect materially the heating efliciency of the boiler.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a boiler wherein the steam generated during the boiling operation will be continuously condensed and the pressure within the boiler thereby prevented from lifting olf the cover.

My invention further consists in the improvements in the parts and devices and in the novel combinations of parts and devices herein shown, described or claimed.

In the drawing forming a part of this specication, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boiler showing my improvements applied thereto, parts being broken away to more clearly show the construction. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the main or body portion of the boiler with the cover removed, and Fig. 3 is a Vertical section, taken substantially on the line 3 -3 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing, 10 denotes'the body or main portion of the wash boiler, the'same p being provided with sides 1l and bottom 12,

and being open at the top asis usual in this type of vessels. Formed around the upper edge of the body member 10, and preferably integrally therewith, is a channel or condensed steam collecting member 18. Also formed on the body of the boiler 10 on each side thereof is a water cooling chamber 14, each being preferably tapered from the top to the bottom and having corrugated faces 15, whereby to provide a greater cooling surface. The channel 13 communicates with each of the chambers 14 and is adapted to conduct the condensed steam thereinto.

One or more holes or perforations 16 are provided in the sides of the boiler, which communicate with the chambers 15 and preferably at the lower portion thereof.

17 denotes the removable cover, the same being provided with the usual handle 18, and tapered upwardly from its edges toward the center and supported by the outside wall of the channel 13 so that the steam from the boiler has free access to the channel and the condensed steam from the cover can readily drip down into the channel.'

In practice, when the boiler is filled with water and the articles to be boiled, the steam rises and impinges against the cover 17 and is thereby condensed, and on account of the sloping nature of the cover, the condensed steam will run down to the edges thereof and will drop off into the collecting channel 13, and from there will be directed into either of the chambers 15, which, of course, will be filled with water to the same height as the water inside the boiler, but on account of the great amount of cooling surface on each of the cooling chambers 15, the water therein will be kept at a lower temperature than that within the boiler and will therefore sink from the top of the chamber 15 toward the bottom and circulate or pass through the passageways 16 due to convection in the direction indicated by the arrows a, and in this way will keep the temperature of the contents of the boiler constantly lowered, thus preventing an increase of' the pressure within the boiler and thus preventing the lifting up of the cover, escape of the steam and spilling over or splashing of lthe water, and also doing away with the necessity for continually adding cold water, which has hitherto been customary and necessary to keep the temperature of the boiling water reduced.

It will be manifest from the foregoing that the interiors of the boilers embodying my invention are not obstructed in any manner and the boiler presents little difference in appearance from those already in use, although it obviously differs tremendously in operation and action, which operation and action is wholly automatic in the performance of its novel function.

rlhe corrugated chambers 14 taper toward the bottom and consequently exercise a varied cooling eifect depending upon the amount of overflow due to boiling, that is to say, rapid boiling over causing water to rise higher in the chambers 14 and to be subject to more than a corresponding cooling effect by reason of the increasingly enlarging cross sections of the chambers 14. Furthermore particular benefit is derived by placing two of these chambers upon the sides of an oblong or oval boiler which benelit consists in the balanced inflow of cool water at opposite central points. This results in the elimination of any chance of overcooling a particular point in the boiler, as would be the case were a single chamber 14 provided, so that the cool water entered at one point andkgreatly reduced the temperature at that point. The ends are not affected by the inflow except by the diffusion of the cooler water about the bottom. The arrangement shown on the drawings causes the cooler inflow to diffuse gradually by reason of the heated endv portions and the eiliciency is therefore little affected.

lt is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made inthe form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the 'spirit and scope of the invention or sacriiicing any of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

l claim A wash boiler comprising a body and a cover therefor and an external passageway of corrugated metal of decreasing sectional area from its top to its bottom, said passageway communicatingfreely with the interior of said boiler at the top and bottom.

CHARLES F. MITCHELL.

Witnesses:

CI-rAs. Hmmm JACOB S. DRAKE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

